Spring governor



l1 57 June4 141927. IIT. F' WILLIAMS .,632-,2 I y SPRING GOVERNOR Filed Juri'' 1e, 1924 a sheets-shed 2 mag 4 l n "I www mf-l ATTORNEY Patented June 14, 1927.

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS F. WILLIAMS, 0F IliAlR-IAVEN,v NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO INGLIS M. UPPERCU, OF DEAL, NEW JERSEY. i A

SPRING GOVERNOR.

Application filed .June 18, 1924. Serial No. 720,754.y

This invention relatesrtoan apparatus for modifying land governing'the action or reaction of the springs of a vehicle, when the normal**distancebetweenwthe frame of the vehicle and the running gears. thereof is changed due to the compression and eXpansion of the springs when the vehicle is passing over rough or uneven' roads.

It is the object of the invention to provide a spring governor or shock absorber which will modify'the spring action o-n both the compression and recoil of the sprin'g and whichwill vary the amountJ of modifying action in accordance with variations in the degree of compression or rebound.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spring governor or shock absorber which will .act with greater force on the recoil movement of thespring than on the compression movement and which Will offer a smooth and gradual check to the violent rebound Which many vehicles have from the compression of the springs thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide afspring governor or shock absorber which will not modify or snub the slight compressions and recoils` of the vehicle springs move relative to the .running gear under the normal action of the s rings when the vehcle encounters only slight irregularities in the road surface.

Another object of the, invention is to provide a spring governor or 4shock absorber which will automatically 4adjust Aitself to differences in the weight of the load carried by the vehicle. f

Another ob'ect of the invention is to provide a spring governor which may be easily applied to the various v-ehiclesand'which fmay easily be adjusted to vehicles with dit* ferent spring reactions.

Various other ob'ects ofthe invention relating to the simplicity of my spring governor from a manufacturing and assembling standpoint and other features will` appear as the description of the invention. needs.

Referring now to thc drawing which illustrate a preferred form of embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side view of my spring governor with parts broken away to'shoiv the interior construction of the same.

but Will leave the vehicle free to Figure 2 is a sectional View on the line '2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure '3 is a side View of the complete sprmg governor.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of' Figure 3.-

In the form of embodiment illustrated the spring governor includes a circular supporting plate 1 provided With perforated lugs 2 whereby the governor may be secured to the frame 3 of the vehicle by means of the bolts 4. An axle 5 projects outward from the center of the plate 1 for rotatably supporting the hub 12 of the brak-e drum 6, and a stud shaft 7 projects from near the top 'of the plate 1 to support the leaf spring 8. A projection 9 near the bot-tom of the plate' 1 supports the means for adjusting the spring governor to be described later. The brake drum 6 is a cu shaped casing provided With the brake hand contacting surface 10, theend closing portion 11 and the hub portion 12 which is shaped so that when the drum is bored to fit upon the axle 5 .the hub portion forms a cam surface 13 Which moves the spring 8 during the operation of the shock absorber. y

A substantially lcircular' brake band 14, comprlslng the friction material 15 and the steel supporting shoe 16 secured to the ends .of the friction material by turning ythe shoe over the ends of the friction material at 16a and 16 is located inside the brake drum in v limit of the distance through Which the d rum can be'moved before any braking actlontakes place is determined by'the distance between the ends ofthe brake band -14` and the stop members 17 and 17a which are located in the projection 9 on the plate 1 the ends 16a and 16b of the steel supporting -shoe fbeing turned inward as illustrated in Fi res 1 and 2 so that they are in line With the adjustable V stops 17 and 17 in the projection 9.` i

i In orde-r to move the brake drum when the body of the vehicle moves relative to the running gears, a lever 18 is secured to the end closing portion 11 ofthe brake drum 6 and the outer end of this lever is pivotedto a link 19 which at its other end is pivoted shallow channel 52l is made near the end of the axle, and the lever 18, Ais provided with a keyhole slot 25 the large portion 25a of which is adapted to pass over the end of the axle 5 while the smaller portion 25b-is adapted to lit into the channel 5a to lock the drum to the plate 1.

'Ifo adjust the operation of the'governorto vehicles having different amounts of space between the frame and the running gears, the link 19 is provided with a turn buckle v rod 19a screw threadedat each end into the connection member 19b so the length of the link may be increased or decreased at arm 18 is held substantially vhorizontalfinl .will by turning the section 19a relative to the ends 19b to be adjusted relative to the drum 6 in order to vary the braking-action 'of the spring governor the lever is provided with an accurate series 'of holes 18a at each side of the key hole slot 25 through which the bolts 18" may be inserted. It is to be understood.

that through the agency of the link 19 the the normal position. of the springs so that when the bolts 18? are in the first of the holes 18a the position of the cam surface-13 on the hub of the drum 6 is substantially as illustrated in Figure 1 and the lowest braking or snubbing action is had, however, when the bolts 18b are in the third or fourth of the holes 18a the cam surface 13' will be turned to the right from the position of Figure 1 when the arm 18 is horizontal, and will bear more heavily on the spring 8 to increase the braking action of the band 14 on thedrum surface 10 when the drum 6 is rotated relative to the plate 6. By the means just described it is possible not only to adjust the braking action for cars of different weight, but to adjust the shock absorbers to give different braking than on the. front. 1

In the operation of the spring governor, when the wheels strike a holey oribuinp in the road the springs are compressed and the body of thev vehicle moves downward relative to the ruiming gear. This has the effect, through the link 19 of elevating the lever 18 and turning the drum 6 and cam surface 3 in a clockwise direction. vDuring the first part of this movement the brake. band 14 which is free or floating in the drum 6 rotates with the drum and there is no braking lor snubbing effect, so that for slight compression and recoil of the springs there is no snubbing effect'and the vehicle is free to absorb the slight bumpsand irregulari-l on the rear spring4 ties in the road surface by the natural spring reaction. This range of free movement is V 17 and 17a, and may be adjusted by means of the screw 26, which passes through the plate 1 and is provided with a conical end 26a 'contactingwith the conical ends of thestops 17 and 17a to determine the distance the stops will project from the casing 9. The bottom portion of projection 9 may be provided with a small conical'hole 26b to accommodateV the conical end 26a of the screw 26, in order that the said conical end V26 may be effective throughout its length to vary the positions of stops 17`a'nd 17a. The projecting end of screw 26is squared to permit ready adjustment of the screw and a locknut 27 is provided to hold the screw in adjusted position.

en, however, the movement of the drum isgre'ater than the distance between the end ofthe brake 'band 14 and the stopA 17a so that further rotation of the band will be'prevented and the drum 6 will slide relative to the suction lining 15 to exert a braking or checking action on the-compression of the' spring. However, as the end 16a of the brake band is free, there is no tendency tov expand .thebrake band and the brakin action results only from iency ofthe supporting shoe 16, and isrelatively slight..

During the compression movement of the spring,however, the cam surface 13 is rotated in a clockwise direction to increase the pressure on the loop 8a of the spring 8, which in turn presses the brake bandA 14 iirmly against the surface of the brake drum 6 with a gradually increasing pressure so that the further the 'drum is rotated the greater braking action is exerted through the cam 13. When 'thedownward movement of the chassis is ended andthe spring vstarts to recoil the band' 14"-will be positively gripped near the'end 16b and when the end 16a contacts with thefstop 17 the 'counterclockwise rotation'of-the drum 6 will ex pand the band '14 into firm contact with -the drum at all points so as to exert a lou `To prevent dust and moisture fromcreaching the interior'of the governor, the plate 1 1s Vprovided with a groove 30 which the edge 6il of the drum 6 extendsand this groove is packed withfa 'Suitable material 31 to keep out the dust-- While I have indicated and described the preferred embodiment of mylinvention it is the slipping be` tween the band and drum'due to the resilto be understood that various modifications and changes can be made therefrom,'with 'out departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What l claim is:

l. A spring governor' comprising a drum, a pivotal mounting therefor, a brake niember located within and engaging the inner surface of'said drum, an abutment member receiving the ends of the brake member thereagainst, and means actuated by the relative movement oit lsaid brake member and drum for effecting a local pressure of said member against said drum.

2. A spring governor for spring-connected relatively movable parts, a support carried by one of said parts, a drum pivotally mounted upon said Support, means for connecting said drum to the other of saidrelatively movable parts, a brake band engaging said drum, with the two ends of said brake band adjacent tiXed abutments, and means Iactuated by the relative movement ot said brake band and drum for effecting a local pressure of said member against said drum.

3. A spring governor for spring-connected relatively movable parts, a support carried by one of sai-d parts, a drum 1pivotally mounted upon said support, means ior con-v necting said drum to the other otsaid relatively movable parts, a brake band engaging said drum, with the two ,ends of said brake band adjacent iixed abtitments, and means for producing a local pressure between the said drum and brake band adjacent one end of the latter and with the said local pressure proportional to the angular displacement of the drum from its normal position.

4, An apparatus for governing the relatlve motion of two spring-connected parts comprising a drum pivotally connected at. its center to one of lsaid parts and eccentrically connected to the other or" said parts, a brake engaging said drum and adapted to trictionally resist the motion thereof', and means for varying the fric-tional resistance to motion of the drum proportioned to the angular displacementot the drum from its normal position.

5.y An apparatus for governing the relative motion ot two spring-connected parts comprising a drum pivotally connected at its center to one of said partsv and eccentrically connected to the other of said parts, a brake engaging said drum and adapted to frietionally resist the motion thereof, means for varying the frictional resistance to motion of the drum proportioned to the angu-v lar displacement of the drum from its normal position, and means for exerting a local pressure upon sai-d brake adjacent the one end thereof so as to unequally resist opposite motions of said drum.

6. An apparatus ofthe class described for governing the relative motions ot' two spring-connected parts, comprising la supporting plate adapted to be secured to one or' said members, a drum pivotally mount ed thereon, means for connecting said drum to the other of said parts so as to rotate the drum upon the relative movement of the two spring-connected parts, a brakeband located within and engaging the inner sur i'ace of said drum, adjustable stop means',

said members, a drum pivot-ally mounted thereon, means for connecting said drum to the other or' said parts so as to rotate the drum upon the relative movement of the two spring-connected parts, a floating brake band located within and engaging the inner surface of said drum, stop means adjacent the ends of the brake band, means for exerting a local pressure upon said brake band and forcing it against said drum near the` one end of said brake band, and means for varying the said local pressure proportional to the 'angular displacement of the drum :trom its normal position.

8. A' spring governor comprising an attaching plate, a drum pivotally mounted thereon, means associated with said drum for connecting it to the axle of a vehicle, a brake band located within and frictionally engaging the said drum', an abutment member-adjacent the ends of the brake band, means for adjusting the said abutment members to vary the distance between same and the ends of the band, resilient means engaging the brake band'adjaeent one end thereof and adapted to force the said brake band end against the said drum, and a cam shape member carried by said drum adjacent the pivotal mounting thereof and cooperating with said resilient means and adapted to vary the local pressure of the brake band end against the drum angulardisplac'ement or the drum from its normal position.

9. ln a shock absorber of the type described, the combination of a support, a

brake drumpivoted thereon, a brake band contacting with said drum and movable therewith, means to movethe drum relative to said band to cause a lbraking action and means to increase the pressure between the band and the drum in pro ortion to the amount of rotation, to vary he braking action..

roportional to the 10. In a shock absorber, a support, a circular brake drum pivoted thereon, a substantially circular brake lband inside the drum, means to rotate the drum, -means to prevent rotation of the band to cause slipping between the bandand drum and means 'to increase the pressure between 7the band pivoted on said support, a substantially cirp cular brake band inside the brake drum, a

spring shoe for pressing the brakel band against the drum, nwans to turn the drum on its pivot to cause vrelative .movement between if the drum and band, and cam'mcans on the drum hub for increasing the friction' be tween one end of the band and the drum so as to cause a greater braking afftion when the other. j v

12. A spring governorcomprising a supthe drum is rotated in one dii-eci ion than in' port, av drum, pivotally mounted thereon, a

vbrake member floating interior ot' the drum, acting there against, and movable therewith, said drum and band being arranged for a limited free movement to ether, relative'to v said support, means for limiting the movement of said brake member and n ieansfor binding `:said brake member against said drum upon further.movementv of said drum, and means for increasing said binding action in proportion to further relative movement of said drum and said brake member.

13. Ina shock absorber, a support, abrake drum pivoted thereon', a-brake band acting upon said drum, and. movable therewith, means to prevent rotation of saidband to cause slipping between the bandl and drum means, comprising a cam attached to` said n drum, for increasin 'the pressure between rum, in proportion to,

the amount of rotation to vary lthe braking af-tion of the latter and means tovary the initial pressure between, said band and drum.

14. In a shock absorbena support, a brake. :drum pivoted thereon, a'brake bandacting upon said drum, and movable therewith,

,means to prevent rotation `of said band to 4 cause slipping between the band and drum,

means comprising a vcam attached to said drum for-increasing the pressure between the band and the drum in proportion to the amount of rotation to vary the brakingaction of the latter and means to vary the ini-` -tial pressure between said bandgand drum,

and said means last n amed comprising a,`

brake arm attached to said drum and means for adjusting: the relative positions of said drum and said arm.

' Intestin'iony whereof I have'aftixed my signature to this specification.

THOMAS'F. wiLLiAivfs. 

